Estate Planning & Administration
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, probate, and inheritance tax matters for Bucks County families. From planning to administration.
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, probate, and inheritance tax matters for Bucks County families. From planning to administration.
Two-Path Chooser
For asset protection, multi-state property, special needs, or complex family situations
When things go wrong: will contests, executor removal, surcharge actions, and fiduciary litigation in Bucks County Orphans' Court
Your family would need to petition the Bucks County Orphans' Court for a guardianship, a process that is expensive, time-consuming, public, and requires ongoing court oversight. A $300 power of attorney avoids a $5,000+ guardianship proceeding.
No. A revocable living trust provides zero inheritance tax savings in Pennsylvania. The assets are taxed at exactly the same rates. This is one of the most common misconceptions I encounter, and it leads families to spend thousands on documents they don't need.
A straightforward estate typically takes 9 to 12 months from opening to final distribution. Complex estates involving real estate sales, tax disputes, will contests, or family disagreements can take significantly longer.
Not necessarily. If the only assets are small bank accounts (under $20,000 per institution), final paychecks (under $10,000), or small insurance policies payable to the estate (under $11,000), family members may be able to collect these directly under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3101 without opening an estate at all. You'll need a death certificate and, for bank accounts, a receipted funeral bill. If the assets exceed these limits or include real estate in the decedent's sole name, you'll need either a small estate petition (§ 3102) or full probate.
Review every 3 to 5 years or after any major life event: marriage, divorce, birth of a child, death of a beneficiary, significant asset changes, or moving to a new state.
Probably not. In Pennsylvania, probate is relatively quick and inexpensive compared to states like California. A trust makes sense if you own property in multiple states, need special needs planning, or have specific privacy concerns. We'll give you an honest assessment, not a sales pitch.
A surviving spouse has an elective share right to claim one-third of the estate regardless of the will (20 Pa.C.S. § 2203). This can only be waived by a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.
Reasonable compensation, typically 3 to 5% of the estate's value in Bucks County. There is no fixed statutory fee. Compensation must be approved by the court or consented to by all beneficiaries.
Yes, potentially a serious one. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(3), a surviving spouse who married the testator after the will was executed and isn't provided for in the will is entitled to the full intestate share, automatically, with no election required. That can be one-half or more of the estate. Update your will immediately after any marriage or remarriage.
Yes, you can disinherit a child in Pennsylvania. Best practice is to mention them by name and expressly state they are to receive nothing. This prevents a challenge based on the argument you simply forgot to include them.
No. Stepchildren receive nothing under Pennsylvania intestacy law unless they were legally adopted. It doesn't matter if you raised them from infancy. Only legally adopted children and biological children inherit under § 2103. If you want stepchildren to inherit, you must name them in a will.
Yes. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2108, adopted children are treated identically to biological children for inheritance purposes. An adopted child inherits from (and through) the adoptive parents, and the adoptive parents inherit from the adopted child.
A child born outside of marriage inherits from the mother automatically. Inheritance from the father requires that paternity was established, either by acknowledgment, by holding the child out as his own, or by clear and convincing evidence. If paternity was established, the child inherits equally with all other children.
Yes. Under Pennsylvania intestacy law, half-siblings inherit equally with full siblings. There is no distinction between half and full blood relatives in the intestacy statute.
Under Pennsylvania's simultaneous death statute (20 Pa.C.S. § 8501), if there's no sufficient evidence that the persons died otherwise than simultaneously, each person's property is distributed as if they survived the other. In practice, this means each spouse's estate is distributed to their own heirs as if the other spouse predeceased them. Many well-drafted wills include a survivorship clause requiring the beneficiary to survive the testator by 30 days.
Nothing. Zero. Pennsylvania does not recognize common law marriage entered into after January 1, 2005. Your partner has no inheritance rights under intestacy, no matter how long you've lived together, shared finances, or built a life. The only way to protect an unmarried partner is through a will, trust, or beneficiary designations. This is not optional if you are in an unmarried partnership.
Yes. Under § 2103, if the decedent had no spouse and no children, the parents inherit the entire estate. If the decedent had a spouse but no children, the parents share the estate with the spouse (spouse gets first $30,000 + 50%, parents get the remaining 50%).
Escheat is extremely rare. Pennsylvania law traces inheritance through an extensive chain: spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles, first cousins, and beyond. Under Act 50 of 2025, even if no relatives can be found, the estate first passes to an endowed community fund in the decedent's municipality, school district, or county before the Commonwealth receives anything (§ 2103(a)(6)). A thorough heir search almost always locates someone long before this point.
Yes, through revocable trusts, joint ownership with rights of survivorship, POD/TOD designations, and beneficiary designations. But remember, avoiding probate does not avoid Pennsylvania inheritance tax.
Will contests must be filed within one year of probate via caveat. The matter is decided by the Orphans' Court judge after an evidentiary hearing.
Yes. The Bucks County Register of Wills satellite office at 7321 New Falls Road in Levittown handles probate filings, making the process more convenient for lower Bucks County residents.
An executor is named in the will. An administrator is appointed by the court when there is no will or the named executor cannot serve. Their duties are the same.
Yes, but the executor needs authority, either from the will itself or by court order. If the will gives the executor broad powers of sale, they can list and sell the property. If it doesn't, a petition to the Orphans' Court is required. Either way, the sale should be at fair market value, and the proceeds become part of the estate for distribution. The executor should get a date-of-death appraisal for inheritance tax purposes regardless.
Beneficiaries can petition the Orphans' Court for removal of the executor under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3182. Grounds include failure to account, wasting assets, self-dealing, unreasonable delay, or failure to perform duties. The court can appoint a successor. Beneficiaries can also file a surcharge action seeking to hold the executor personally liable for losses caused by their misconduct.
If every asset passed by joint ownership, POD/TOD designation, or beneficiary designation, there may be nothing that requires probate administration. However, you may still need to probate the will to cut off creditor claims and establish a clear record, especially if the estate owes money. You'll also still need to file a Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return (REV-1500). Joint assets and beneficiary-designated assets are still subject to inheritance tax even though they skip probate.
It might be legally valid if it meets the basic requirements (in writing, signed at the end, 18+, sound mind). But 'valid' and 'effective' are different things. I routinely see AI-generated wills that are missing the self-proving affidavit the Bucks County ROW requires, that ignore PA inheritance tax entirely, that use generic POA language banks reject, or that create trust structures that trigger unnecessary tax liability. If you've already created documents with an AI tool, bring them in, a review and revision is significantly cheaper than starting from scratch, and far cheaper than the problems a defective document creates later.
No. The Register issues Letters D.B.N. (de bonis non, meaning 'of goods not administered'). The new administrator picks up where the prior executor left off and administers only the remaining unadministered assets. The critical first step is accounting for what happened under the prior executor's watch. If the prior executor's estate is also open, coordinating the two administrations requires careful attention.
The Orphans' Court can appoint a pendente lite administrator, a temporary fiduciary who preserves the estate while the dispute is litigated. They can pay necessary expenses like property taxes, insurance, and utilities, but generally cannot sell assets or make distributions without specific court authority. The appointment ends when the contest is resolved and permanent letters issue.
Pennsylvania law changes that affect estate planning. These updates reflect current law as of our last review.
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